everyday is for the thief-teju cole

“Sometimes I try to make a mental image of his face at the table on that night, and I fail. I still have photographs, but I no longer know what my father looked like.” (49)

“I think of Auden’s line: Poetry makes nothing happen.” (43)

“Church has become one of the biggest businesses in Nigeria, with branches and ‘ministries’ springing up like mushrooms on every street and corner. These Christians are militant, preaching a potent combination of a fear of hellfire and a love of financial prosperity. Many of the most ardent believers are students in the secondary schools and colleges. This is the worldview in which prayer is a sufficient solution for plane crashes. Everyone expects a miracle, and those who do not receive theirs are blamed for insufficient faith.” (141-2)

father’s day this year was on a sunday. i spent it at the reference library, reading a book called forgiveness (forthcoming) with lee maracle and marilyn dumont. poetry, fathers, and truth and reconciliation are all canadian themes that hit home.